Closure latch

ABSTRACT

A vehicle body door lock detent lever is pivotally and slidably mounted on a stud carried by the lock frame. A combined compression and torsion spring normally biases the detent into detented engagement with the bolt and also holds serrations on the detent out of engagement with mating serrations on the stud. This spring is opposed by a Belleville washer and is normally stronger than the washer. If for any reason the washer becomes stronger than the spring, the detent shifts axially of the stud to engage the serrations.

United States Patent Barthold F. Meyer St. Clair Beach, Ontario, Canada 82 l ,664

May 5, 1969 Feb. 16, 197 1 General Motors Corporation Detroit, Mich.

[72] Inventor Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee CLOSURE LATCH 4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

us. Cl lnt.Cl.............. Eo5c3/06 Field of Search 292/216,

References Cited I UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,076,328 2/1963 Rhodes et al.

3,374,021 3/1968 Gulette 292/336.3 3,429,153 2/1969 Magyar 292/216X FORElGN PATENTS 296,880 3/1916 Germany 292/40 Primary Examiner-Richard E. Moore Attorneys-W. E. Finken and Herbert Furman This invention relates to closure latches and'more particularly to vehicle body door locks.

One feature of this invention is that it provides a vehicle body lock having detent means swingably and slidably mounted-on pivot means, interengaging means on the detent means and pivot means engageable upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means, resilient means exerting opposing biasing forces on the detent means, with one force being greater than the other to normally maintain the interengaging means out of engagement. Another feature of this invention is that one resilient means both biases the detent means towards detented position with respect to the latch means as well as exerting the greater biasing force on the detent means. A further feature of this invention is that the one resilient means comprises a combined torsion and compression spring interconnecting the lock frame and the detent means and exerting a torsional force biasing the detent means toward detented position with respect to the latch means and exerting a compressive biasing force axially of the pivot means greater thanan opposing compressive'biasing force exerted axially of the pivot means by the other resilient means to maintain the interengaging means out of engagement.

These and other features of this invention will be readily apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a partial view of a vehicle body door lock according to this invention, with the detent means shown in undetented position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional viewtaken generally along the plane indicated by line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along the plane indicated by line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view.

Referring now particularly to FIG. lof the drawings, a portion of a vehicle body door lock 16 is shown. The lock 16 is basically the same as that shown and described in detail in Fox et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,190,682, issued June 22, 1965, and therefore only a brief description necessary for an understanding of this invention will be given. Generally the lock includes a fork-type bolt 18 which ispivoted at 20 between the main frame 22 and the auxiliary frame 24 for movement between a latched position, not shown, wherein the bolt cooperates with a headed striker pin to maintain the door in closed position, and an unlatched position as shown. The bolt is normally biased to unlatched position by a torsion spring 26 connected between the bolt and a lanced lateral tab of frame 22. The outside operating means includes a pivotal and shiftable intermittent link 28 having a slot 30 slidably receiving a tab 32 of the locking lever 34. The intermittentmember is pivotally movable between coupled position, as shown, when the locking lever is in unlocked position, and uncoupled position, not shown, to the left of the position shown when the locking lever is in locked position, wherein the right-hand edge of a notch 36 in the locking lever engages a tab 38 of frame 22. The intermittent link is the final connection between the outside push button means, not shown, and the detent 40.

The detent includes a foot 42 which is engageable with either shoulder 44 or 46 of the bolt 18 in detented position to respectively hold the bolt in either intermediate or frilly latched position. The detent is normally urged, as will be described, toward detented position, and is located therein by engagement of the detent shoulder 48 with a rubber bumper 50 mounted on a lateral tab of frame 22. When the intermittent link is in coupled position, upward shifting movement of the intermittent link by the outside operating means engages a lateral tab 52 of the intermittent link with a shoulder 54 of the detent to move the detent to undetented position.

In accordance with this invention, a shouldered stud 56, FIG. 2, is bolted to the main frame 22 and the auxiliary frame 24 and defines the axis of swinging of the detent 40. The detent is swingably and slidably mounted on a reduced diameter portion 58 of the stud 56 and the one side of the detent adjacent the aperture therein is provided with a series of radial serrations 60 which oppose a mating series of radial serrations 62 provided on a shoulder of the stud 56.

A combined torsion and compression spring'64 surrounds the stud 56 between the frame 24 and the detent 40.-0ne end 66 of the spring is torsionally anchoredtoa lanced lateral tab 68 of the frame 22 and the other end 70 of the spring is torsionally anchored to the detent 40 to continually bias the detent counterclockwise as viewed in FIGS. 1 and .3 toward detented position. The main body of the spring compressively biases the detent 40 to the right as viewed in FIG.) to normally maintain the serrations 60 and 62 out of engagement with each other. v

A flat washer 72 seats on the portion 58 of stud 56 to the other side of the detent and a Belleville type spring washer 74 seats between the frame 22 and the washer to exert a compressive biasing force to the left on detent 40 inopposition to the compressive force exerted by the spring 64 to the right. The compressive force exerted by the spring 64is greater than that exerted by the spring washer 74 so that normally the serrations 60 and 62 remain disengaged and the detent 40 is free to pivot about stud 56 between detented and undetented positions. However, if for any reason the compressive force exerted by the spring washer 74 becomes greater than that exertedby the spring 64, the detent will slide along portion 58 of stud 56 and the serrations 60 and 62 will engage so that the detent 40 will become releasably locked to the stud 56 and thereafter be releasably held against pivotal movement. It should be noted that sliding movement of the detent 40 along the reduced diameter portion 58 of the stud does not move the detent foot 42 laterally out of engagement with bolt shoulder 44 or 46 so that the detent foot remains in engagement regardless of the slidable position of the detent on the stud 56.

Thus this invention provides an improved vehicle body door lock.

lclaim: 1

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means an and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, cooperating engageable and disengageable means on the support and detent means engageable upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first means normally exerting a biasing force urging the cooperating means into engagement with each other, and second means normally exerting a biasing force greater than the force exerted by the first means to maintain the cooperating means out of engagement with each other. I

2. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, cooperating engageable and disengageable means on the support and detent means engageable upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first means normally exerting a compressive biasing force axially of the pivot means urging the cooperating means into engagement with each other, and second means normally exerting a pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, a plurality of serrations on the pivot means engageable with a plurality of mating serrations on the detent means upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means serrations into engagement with the pivot means serrations, and second spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means greater than the force exerted thereon by the first spring means to maintain the serrations out of engagement with each other.

4. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, a plurality of serrations on the pivot means engageable with a plurality of mating serrations on the detent means upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means serrations into engagement with the pivot means serrations, and second spring means normally exerting a torsional biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means to detented position and a compressive biasing force on the detent means greater than the compressive force exerted thereon by the first spring means to maintain the serrations out of engagement with each each other.

22 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,563,590 Dated February 16, 1971 Inventor(s) Barthold E. Meyer It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 1, line 6, after "body" and before "lock" the word door has been omitted.

Column 2, line 17, after "compressive" and before "force" the word biasing has been omitted.

Column 2, line 42, "an" should be deleted.

Column 2, line 58, "with" (second occurrence) should be deleted.

Column 2, lines 69 and 70, "the maintain" should be deleted.

Column 3, line 16, "for" (second occurrence) should be delet Column 4, line 17, "each" (second occurrence) should be deleted.

Signed and sealed this 12th day of October 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDJARD M.FLETCHER,J'R. ROBERT GOTTSGHALK Attesting Officer Acting Commissioner of Pat 

1. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means an and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, cooperating engageable and disengageable means on the support and detent means engageable upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first means normally exerting a biasing force urging the cooperating means into engagement with each other, and second means normaLly exerting a biasing force greater than the force exerted by the first means to maintain the cooperating means out of engagement with each other.
 2. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, cooperating engageable and disengageable means on the support and detent means engageable upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first means normally exerting a compressive biasing force axially of the pivot means urging the cooperating means into engagement with each other, and second means normally exerting a compressive biasing force axially of the pivot means greater than the force exerted by the first means to maintain the maintain the cooperating means out of engagement with each other.
 3. A closure latch comprising in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, a plurality of serrations on the pivot means engageable with a plurality of mating serrations on the detent means upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means serrations into engagement with the pivot means serrations, and second spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means greater than the force exerted thereon by the first spring means to maintain the serrations out of engagement with each other.
 4. A closure latch comprising, in combination, a support, latch means mounted on the support for for movement between latched and unlatched positions, pivot means on the support, detent means swingably mounted on the pivot means for pivotal movement between detented and undetented positions with respect to the latch means and slidable movement relative to the pivot means in each position thereof, a plurality of serrations on the pivot means engageable with a plurality of mating serrations on the detent means upon sliding movement of the detent means relative to the pivot means to hold the detent means against swingable movement relative to the pivot means, first spring means normally exerting a compressive biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means serrations into engagement with the pivot means serrations, and second spring means normally exerting a torsional biasing force on the detent means urging the detent means to detented position and a compressive biasing force on the detent means greater than the compressive force exerted thereon by the first spring means to maintain the serrations out of engagement with each each other. 